The Essence Within
by Iamsprezzatura
Summary: He has been gone for many years. She has been left heartbroken by her ex. What if we could change what we recall as our past without going back in time to change it? What if we could imagine our own past and make it come to pass as our own experiences?
1. Did you Love him?

**Hello everyone! This is my First FanFic here. I love reading them and well decided to put the first chapter to this wonderful story which I have not yet defined in paper, but that will extend to what my imagination pleases to do with it.**

**BTW... I am not that great at writing... but I will leave you to judge that for yourself. I have no idea what possessed me to write this. I just thought it would be interesting to try out. I know I have made some mistakes and I would like you, as the reader, to point them out for me. I want to become a good writer and some pointers wouldn't hurt. As well, in exchange I will try to update when ever I can.**

**Now relating to the story... This first chapter is greatly inspired, and starts the same as a great youtube video I saw called "Shell" by WongFuProductions. It inspired me to write this. I give them a lot of credit for the beginning of this story.**

**As always...**

**I do not own the rights to Pokémon or any of its characters or fictional locations.**

**Enjoy amigos. :D**

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><p>"Did you love him?" It is all he asks while sitting in her apartment looking out the window into the skyline.<p>

The room was warm in contrast to the cold of the outside world. It was a penthouse suite on top of Cerulean City. She loved it and hated it at the same time. Not because of the luxury of the apartment or the view from the huge windows, but because of the memories shared with her ex-lover. All those memories thrown to waste, all turned to hatred and sadness. She hated him now. With every fibre in her body she despised him. She hated the thought of him. She hated everything to do with him or anything that would remind her of him. Every day he would call her to ask for forgiveness and to tell her that she was his everything. No one would replace her in his heart.

She really never did understand why she would answer the phone every time even though she knew it was the same thing over and over again. She did not know why she thought that he was telling her the truth. Some part of her seemed to want to believe in him. Wanted to believe it was different than what she knew was fact. Wanted to change the past and not look at the facts. But the facts were laid out. Everything pointed an accusing finger at him. He was a liar.

Confused was what she felt like for the past two weeks. She wasn't herself anymore. She entered into a routine of sorts, no one there to break her out. Her routine would usually consist of sadness and thoughts rampaging her head at all times trying to destroy her from the inside out. Sleep was her only way out of feeling. Her heart seemed to be shattered into pieces. But was it love she felt for him? Did love cause all this? She was in a conflict with her inner demons and no one could battle them for her. She did love him at some point, but she felt it as a distant memory as if the feeling of love she felt for him was out of her grasp.

"I don't remember," she said. "Isn't that sad?"

"It isn't," he said. Looking out the window, he was contemplating the massive building surrounding them and the lights of the city at night. It looked like maze of lights, every one of them looking unique and special among all the other ones. Every single one of them lighting the city as if trying to mimic the stars in the sky that light the path for the moon to follow at night. He was distracted only for a little while, mesmerized by the lights.

"I think it is okay not to remember," he said still admiring the lights before them. "I think that love can bring about strong emotions in people and can leave them with some love amnesia. That is... until they remember whom they once loved before, after they find someone new to love."

She took in his words. Not only the context of the words, but the way he said them as well. It was unusual for her to hear him speak like this. She knew he meant something deeper with them. She wasn't sure why, but she believed in those words and it brought a glimmer of hope to love again. It would soon dim down and vanish though, only to be found again when she recollected her thoughts in her dark and lonely place.

She could not believe how much he had grown over the past couple of years. Here he was now talking to her about love when in fact he was a clueless boy when they first met. She chuckled remembering all the great times they had passed together in their adventures. How they used to fight all of the time for the littlest things. And how she would always get mad at him but would never leave him.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked. "Did I say something funny or something?"

"I am not laughing at what you said, silly," she replied. "I was only laughing because... well... here I am taking love advice from a clueless boy that didn't even know anything other than his ultimate goal of becoming the Pokémon Master," she kept laughing at the thought.

He started to join her in her laughter, "Yeah... I guess that is kind of funny."

Just then she remembered someone very important to him. "Ash... Where is Pikachu?" she asked curiously.

"He is back at Indigo... stayed to rest, we had a pretty tough battle last night," he replied.

Ash Ketchum was not a clueless boy anymore. He didn't even look like a boy anymore. What once was a boy had grown up to become a man of great stature. Ash was six foot four. He was tall and had dark skin from being out in the sun so much with his Pokémon. He had great muscle tone and was lean and fit. His hair was dark and wild and would drop almost to his shoulders. It would go all over the place, but it always seemed to compliment his handsome facial features. His voice was a silvery tenor. She loved to hear him say her name. It felt warm and safe like if she was at home in her bed. He had a very soothing voice that would melt any girl anywhere, or so she thought. Ash was more than handsome, or that's what most of the ladies would say. He was everything a man would ever want to be. Ash had it all. All but one thing in his life.

"Oh I see... Well, I bet he is probably having a good time," she said with a smile thinking of his friend's Pikachu.

"I bet he is eating all of my ketchup reserves..." Ash said.

She laughed at that. She had almost forgotten Pikachu's excessive obsession when it came to ketchup. But just as his trainer, there was an endless well within them needed to be filled with food. And in Pikachu's case it had to be filled with red ketchup.

"Do you feel happy at Indigo Plateau?" she asked Ash after they had stopped imagining Pikachu eating all that ketchup.

Not very ready for a question like that, Ash just answered with logic, "Yeah, I guess so... It is a great place to train my Pokémon... I get 18 different training facilities specialized for every type of Pokémon and I can change them into any climate I want my Pokémon to train on. As well, I get my own suite with virtually anything I desire, and I have my own Chef, Mario, who makes the greatest pizza in all of Kanto... Why wouldn't I be happy...?"

That pleased her question and she was satisfied with the answer. She felt that maybe there was something else that he was hiding by the way he answered but she let it go.

"Well, that's great Ash! I never thought that being a Pokémon Master... would lead to such luxurious life," she said trying to tease him.

"Well, you're one to talk..." he said. "Look at your place, It's amazing! How did you even come up with the money for this on a gym leader salary Misty?"

He really did want to know the answer to this question. He was very curious and wanted to know Misty's secret. He was certain that it was impossible for her to buy it.

"Well..." she said with a blush. She was hesitant and embarrassed to say anything else but she told him anyways, "I started doing my own underwater shows at the Gym and I guess... I kinda gained more popularity than my sisters... So I started rising the price of the tickets and voilà! I saved enough for this place and for many other things, I guess you can say that I am some sort of celebrity here in Cerulean."

Ash was very impressed. He knew why she received such popularity; it wasn't that she was an amazing singer or the fact that she was a great underwater swimmer and choreographer. But it was because in fact, Misty turned out to become the most beautiful of the sensational sisters. She was five foot ten with an hourglass shaped body. Her body was composed of lean muscle tone and perfect skin. She had curves to make a man lost for days. She had amazing turquoise eyes that shined even in the dark, so Ash thought. And she had fiery orange hair which complimented her attitude when she had a challenge to beat. She was one of the most beautiful women in all of Kanto if not the most beautiful.

"And I guess that through your popularity you met... Jack?" Ash asked.

"Yeah... He said that he went to one of my shows and seemed to have fallen in love with me instantly..." she answered Ash's question. "And then we started going out and what not..."

Misty sighed remembering how she had met Jack at first. He had come after the show to the back stage area and brought her some flowers. He brought Misty her favourite kind of flower, Tulips. She did not know how he knew what her favourite flowers were, but she didn't think anything of it. Just a lucky guess, she thought. But that was what stood Jack out from all the others. She had never received Tulips from her fans. They would always send her roses. This caught her attention and led her to a relationship with Jack.

"What is one of your fondest memories with him?" Ash asked her.

Misty didn't think that Ash wanted to know that, but she was certain that he was asking in order to help her get through this difficult time and not for his own interest. She thought about her best memories with Jack, not wanting to, but she tried. Not knowing what to tell Ash, she told him the first thing that came to mind at the moment.

"I remember when I was with him at our second date... and your name came up on the TV when we were at a diner. It was a TV broadcast of you winning the Kanto League Championship. It was talking about how you had beaten every other league but the Kanto region and how you had battled every Elite Four from all of those regions becoming their Pokémon Master in the progress," she continued. "And then the broadcast started talking about you becoming the one and only person to ever accomplish such feat in history... It was funny when Jack saw you on the TV, he said 'how I wish I was that guy!' I told him I knew you, and he didn't believe me one bit. I told him that we were best childhood friends but that I didn't talk to you that often anymore... He still didn't believe me... So I told him about your Pikachu and the friendship you share with your Pokémon... and sure enough he started to finally believe me because of something he had read on one of those Pokémon league magazines about the strong bond you have with Pikachu and all of your Pokémon,"

She pointed at a picture she had on the wall by the living room that showed Ash and Misty. They were smiling and Misty had Ash in a choke hold. They were about 12 at the time the picture was taken. It was a cherished treasure of Misty's, a treasure that showed her a wonderful time in the past when everything was much simpler and happy. She also cherished it for another reason.

"I showed him that picture, and then he finally believed me," she told him almost in the verge of tears.

She tried to hold in her feelings. She couldn't stop feeling depressed just thinking about Jack. Every second they spoke about him was a stab to her heart. Every piece of her heart already shattered was shattering into many more pieces. She wasn't sure whether or not it was a good thing or a bad thing. What Misty did know was that she had to forget about him, she had to move on. Looking at the past would hurt more than going through the future without him. She was tired. All Misty wanted was to close down all her feeling and just move forward without having to worry about her emotions acting up. She knew that Ash could help her. She just had to put a bit more trust in him and let her walls down so that they could be repaired.

_But I am a bit scared to let him in. I haven't let him in for a long time... not since what happened.. and I don't think that right now is the right time... _she thought to herself. She was more nervous and anxious at the thought of letting another person into her world just for a brief second.

"Oh I didn't see that picture when I came in... I totally forgot that you had a copy of the same one, " Ash said trying to lighten up the mood. He knew that Misty was having a difficult time fighting her emotions at the moment."I have mine in my living room as well. I didn't think you would have kept it for so long. It has been a while since that picture was taken hasn't it?" Ash smiled at the thought of those days.

"Yeah... it has been a while... remember when your mom took it? I can't remember what I was chasing you for... It was a fun day regardless, it was just after your first try at the Kanto Championship League if i remember correctly... And what? Did you think I was just going to throw it away or something?" Misty was smiling now, trying to fight her inner self with a different emotion. She was trying to be happy in front of Ash and trying to focus on the good days in the past; the days she didn't think about boys too much. She was trying hard, and she wasn't succeeding because of the look Ash gave her. Ash gave her a look of understanding. He understood what she was going through. She didn't know how he knew... but he just did.

"I didn't say that..." he said simply. "I just thought that after so many years you would have put it in storage, some place... I don't think that your boyfriends would have liked to have seen me with you in a picture since I am the Pokémon Master and all that stuff..." the last bit was a whisper. He said this to her looking down at the ground ashamed that he had even asked her that. He didn't know how close Misty held him in her heart. He didn't know how much of a friend Misty considered him.

He was starting to figure out the relationship they had currently. And he was looking for a bit of hope for the future, but he was just getting ahead of himself.

_She is only a friend. And even if I was considering more than that, it wouldn't feel right after such a short time after her break up... I don't want to be her rebound... I want what I lost so long ago... _he thought.

They had been apart for so long and this was the second time they had seen each other in a long while. The first time recently was about 4 weeks ago when he visited Cerulean City for a conference. He was in town and decided to stop in and say hello to the Sensational Sisters. He hadn't seen her in a very long time and at first he was astounded at how much she had changed. He couldn't keep his eyes off her the whole time they were getting a bite to eat. She told him about her boyfriend at the time, and how she thought he was the one. She was madly in love with him, or so it seemed at the time. He knew it from the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about him.

He was very jealous. Ash was envious of the man that would get to marry Misty. He knew that she would make a great mother some day and a great wife as well. He left her his phone number and told her to keep in touch. Misty only called him 3 weeks later to tell him the news of what happened to her and Jack one week after Ash and Misty had gone to eat. When Ash heard about the break up... he knew that he had to help her out. He used to be one of her closest friends and still felt that he was. Even though they hadn't talked in a long while, Ash still felt like he had a duty to help Misty at her time of need. And this time it was different.

He was only invited to her place because she needed someone to talk to at a place she felt comfortable, or so that is what she said on the phone. It was one of the very few times when Misty opened up to him, and he wanted to help her through this tough time so that maybe he could learn more about her. And it was also one of the very few times Misty invited a guy over to her place other than her boyfriend. Ash wanted to become a better friend.

"Yeah you are right for the most part about the boyfriend reaction... but it's not like I bring anyone up here to my apartment. And to tell you the truth I haven't dated that many people, only about two before Jack," she said.

At the sound of Jack's name coming out of her mouth she couldn't take it anymore. She started tearing up. It felt like a waterfall was erupting through her head and she couldn't stop what was coming. She started to cry.

Ash knew that she needed someone's shoulder to cry on. So he let her cry on his shoulder as he put his arms around her. He was trying to hold her close, and Misty responded by wrapping her arms around his waist.

It was a very sad moment for Ash to see Misty in such state. He didn't want to hurt her more with what he said or asked her, but Ash knew that if he didn't help her through the hard part she would only get worse. He wanted her to get over him and he was willing to do anything. Misty wanted to forget Jack as much as Ash didn't want to see her cry. Then, as if Ash knew what Misty wanted he whispered something in her ear.

"Misty... do you want to forget?"

Misty didn't know what to say. That was one of the many strong questions in her head that were tearing her apart. She didn't know if forgetting was an option. It was humanly impossible to erase something from the mind regardless. Plus, she couldn't forget Jack. Not after having such strong feelings for him.

"I don't think it's an option... It pretty much impossible," she whispered. Ash only held her close and whispered another question into her ear.

"What if it wasn't? What if you could change your memory from the past? What if you could imagine up your own past?"

Misty was starting to get confused and mad now. She wasn't sure where Ash was going with this.

"Why would I want to do that? If I haven't lived it, why would I want to remember it? Why would I want to make up my own past if it's not something I had already lived before? You aren't making any sense Ash... and it's really not helping!" she said the last part depressed but also mad at Ash. He wasn't helping the situation with asking her these ridiculous questions. She didn't want to get mad at him though, because she knew that he was only trying to help.

"Maybe you could imagine me instead of him in your memories. Make me appear in every single one of your memories with him... I wouldn't have done this to you Mist. Would you have wanted it to be me instead of him?" he asked her still whispering into her ear and holding her tight. He really wanted to know how she would react to the question, how she felt about him now long after they had been apart.

Misty immediately remembered how close she was to him. She forgot that she was crying on him just a few minutes ago. She started feeling self conscious and started to notice were her hands were and Ash's breathe on her skin, tickling her ears slightly after every exhale. She wasn't sure how to answer. All that came to mind was one time long ago when Ash and Misty were in this same position.

"You already know the answer to that Ash! You know it! Why do you ask me? Why are you doing this now?" she raised her voice to almost a yell now. Misty was angry at Ash for bringing those feelings up.

Ash looked away. He wanted to forget that time when he let her slip; the time he had no control of his decisions. It was right after the first time he had won his first Pokémon League Championship. He was 18 then. And he didn't want to remember the sacrifice he had to make to say no to her. He didn't want to remember all the years he spend thinking about her.

Ash stood up from his position next to her on the sofa. He didn't want to make eye contact with her. His instincts were yelling at him to leave that very moment.

_She doesn't know how many tears I've shed for her... or the sacrifice I took to keep her safe. But now I can keep her from harm. I can protect her. I can protect her from him!_

Ash turned around quickly to spot her and jumped to cover her from the explosion that happened right as they hit the ground together. **BOOM!** The windows shattered. Ash used his body to protect her from the debris. And after everything was settled, he stood up and vanished with a bright light. Misty stood up stunned. She was disoriented and had a headache from the explosion. It felt like her head was being squished by a ton of bricks. She couldn't hear. She didn't know whether or not what she saw Ash do was real or fiction.

And then she saw Jack.

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><p><strong>Don't forget to leave a review. I want to know how I did. :) I might update sooner than you think. So subscribe if you really enjoyed this little bit. Thank you for your time. Till next time!<strong>


	2. A Touch of Power

_She doesn't know how many tears I've shed for her... or the sacrifice I took to keep her safe. But now I can keep her from harm. I can protect her. I can protect her from him!_

Misty wasn't sure why Ash all of the sudden had stood up and walked a distance from her. She had brought up their past and it seemed that Ash didn't want to remember.

_Why was he asking all of those questions about forgetting the past, and look at him now... He seems to regret what happened but why? ... He hasn't moved on I suppose... _The more she thought about Ash's reaction the more she thought about her inner feelings. _Maybe I haven't moved on either..._

Misty was still looking at him. Taking everything in about him with her gaze wondering what must be going through his head now, was he thinking about her? Misty had just realized how much of her defences she had let down to let Ash in. She had only done it once before and right now she was as scared as she was back then. She had cried in front of Ash; not only in front of him, but on his shoulder. She hated to cry in front of him as a little girl and even now something still resonated from that time to make her hate herself for what she had done minutes ago.

When she had seen him again a few weeks ago it felt like she could tell him anything. She felt comfortable around him, which was a surprise. He was the friend she needed at the moment. Tears had fallen on his shoulder that had been held up inside her for what seemed to be a very long time.

Up until now, Misty hadn't realized just how much time had passed since she started to cry. She didn't know what Ash would think of her now seeing her so weak and helpless, but she didn't seem to care because of the fact that she had gotten so close to him. Something she had always loved to have done in the past.

_What the hell is the matter with me? I have just been out of a relationship and now I am thinking of Ash this way? _Instead of listening to her thoughts, Misty just started to notice what Ash was doing.

Ash seemed to be listening for something. Maybe he was trying to listen to her thoughts. Maybe he was the one trying to see what was going through Misty's head.

What she saw next she would never have thought possible. Ash started to glow. The glow was not like one out of a light bulb, it was as if surrounding Ash were currents of water that were glowing. She could still see Ash through the river of azure light but was not able to react fast enough for what happened next. It seemed as if Ash had become a blur of blue light. He moved faster than the eye could see and now had Misty pinned down on the ground.

"Ash! What the hell! Why'd you do th-"her voice was cut off by a huge explosion that went off in the direction Ash was looking a few minutes ago.

Misty felt as if her whole body went tense at the surprising sound, all she could feel was a cool breeze when she made contact with Ash's glowing veil. The blue-ish glow that was surrounding him felt cool but when she pushed through the glow and touched his skin it was very much warm.

After Misty came in contact with Ash's skin she was then enveloped in the same coat of energy. She was glowing as well. Misty was emitting an amber coloured ambience, but it was the same kind of cool-breeze-feeling surrounding her skin as when she had touched Ash.

She felt the energy from her body being drained chunk by chunk. Scared of everything that was happening and how quick it was happening Misty almost blacked out.

Misty's peripheral vision was turning into darkness. The darkness she was seeing was covering up her whole vision as if she was driving into a dark tunnel. Only being able to see Ash's surprised chestnut eyes, she managed to feel the warmth of his skin. The warmth made her feel safe.

Surprisingly to her, his skin became warmer to the point that it turned extremely hot. As Misty was noticing this, the darkness around her sight started dissipating. She started to feel her strength come back to her. She felt energy entering her through the skin to skin contact with Ash, feeling stronger than ever before in her life.

Ash stood up and picked Misty up to her feet as if she was only but a toothpick and looked Misty up and down.

"Are you okay Misty?" he asked her. Misty couldn't hear a thing because of the explosion, but she managed to read Ash's lips with ease.

"Yes... I am fine, but could you please explain what the hell just happened?" she ended with a shout. She was looking for answers. She had no idea what had just happened and wanted an explanation; and she was going to get one or Ash would really regret it.

"I will explain everything later Mist, but right now is not the time. We have to get out of here now!" he said, but Misty still couldn't hear him. Yet again she could read his lips; this surprised her the most. She wasn't sure how she could read his lips so well, but she thought nothing of it.

"I want an explanation now Ash Ketchum!" she yelled at him. Misty did not have Ash's attention though. Ash was yet again listening for something. When he did this, he became very still and calmed his breathing bringing down his heart rate. The azure luminescence was gone from his body and only Ash stood in front of Misty again.

Ash tried to grab Misty by her hand so they could make their escape, but as soon as he tried this Misty pulled away.

"Don't touch me Ash! I don't know what the hell that was that just happened to me, but I don't want you touching me!"

"Now is not the time Misty, take my hand so we can leave." Ash tried to reason with her.

"No Ash! You have to explain what just happened or else! I am not going anywhere with you until you explain!" Misty was yelling at him after reading Ash's lips to understand what he was trying to tell her.

"I am sorry Misty..." he said to her in a whisper. And Misty, yet again, understood him without having to struggle to hear his whisper.

Ash started to glow a radiant white. Within the bright whiteness was only what seemed like the silhouette of Ash and in less than a fraction of a second he was completely gone before Misty could ask him what he meant by that. He had dissipated into nothingness. It was impossible for anyone to believe. Misty could barely believe it herself and it happened right in front of her eyes.

"Ash! Where did you go?" she was starting to get worried after seeing what just happened. "Damn it Ash, you better be joking around!"

After Ash was gone, it was only a couple of seconds after she started to sense someone's presence in the living room. It wasn't just the one person she was sensing a couple of feet away but about 15 to 20 people that were climbing into her apartment from the side of the building. Although she hadn't looked at the person, something felt so familiar.

She could do more than sense their presence; she could sense their movements too. She could sense some of their feelings as well. Some of them were scared of heights, while others were bored as if it was common to be hanging a couple hundred meters above the ground. And she could feel that they were all loyal to whoever commanded them. Their commander was no one else but the person in her living room now.

Misty felt every single pore in her skin explode with information. She was receiving everything around her; the feeling of the information coming in felt as if a wave from the ocean was passing right through her core. To her it felt like something had opened up her five senses to an extreme no one would ever want to feel.

The feeling was overwhelming her. She couldn't take it anymore. The strength given to her from touching Ash was still there, but she didn't feel in control of her emotional strength. So many different emotions from other people were affecting her very own feelings. She didn't know how to differentiate her thoughts from the clutter of minds surrounding her.

And then it all stopped. Every single feeling diminished into nothing. All she felt now were the soles of her feet touching the ground through her sneakers and the pounding headache left from an overload of information. Her head felt like a ton of bricks had pounded her with no mercy.

After recognizing the pain and trying to ignore it, her orientation to the surroundings started to work again. And she remembered someone had busted through her windows and tried to hurt her and Ash. Remembering this, she turned around and was going to insult the leader of this little coup.

When she turned around with her fists clenched, she was greeted with a hug.

"Oh, _mi amor_! How I missed you... You were gone from me for far too long my dear, I will keep you safe from now on, _no te preocupes_!" said Jack.

She was barely able to hear his voice; she was starting to get her hearing back, but could only hear to a certain degree. Everything she felt for the past two weeks came back to her in a flash. She remembered everything that had happened. How she found him with some blonde bimbo in her apartment looking around; then, how she followed Jack and the blonde-whore into his car to find them touching each other among other things.

Everything came back to her and she went from depressed to out-right furious.

"Let go of me you creep! Don't you ever put your hands on me again!" she yelled at him while slapping away his restrain on her.

Once they separated, Misty finally got a good view at Jack.

Jack was a handsome man from Latin-American descends with a smile that could bring life to any room; out of his mouth the English language came out in a Spanish accent and he expressed himself with passion for every word spoken, so it seemed. His eyes were as dark as the night sky. He had tanned skin that was the colour of her cappuccino in the morning. He had medium length curly hair and facial hair in the form of a goatee. Jack was 6 feet even and had an athletic body. His muscle tone was a bit bigger than Ash's and he was wider in shoulder width as well.

Jack was wearing a beige trench coat with dark-brown boots. Underneath the coat he was wearing what seemed to be a tight black body suit. On top of the bodysuit he had what seemed to be a bunch of straps around his upper body and legs with many pockets and accessories attached. The body suit was different in texture than anything Misty had ever seen in her life. It was made out of what seemed to be very durable material. It looked like reptile skin with many little spiky scales; where the light hit the suit it seemed to absorb it.

The fact that he was wearing this get-up didn't surprise Misty as much as the fact that he was emitting a dark light that surrounded every inch of his body. The light was almost the same as that of a fluorescent black light except it did not make the colours from objects surrounding him standout in the dark. It was just a dark duke blue colour that surrounded him.

"_Mi amor, por favor! _Don't do this to me, _yo te amo!_ I love you!" he was mocking their past relationship now.

Misty was barely able to hear what Jack was saying, but with her new found talent to read lips she was almost able to decipher most of what he said. She was angry that Jack was making fun of their relationship and what they had shared. She was annoyed and she was furious. If he wasn't hurt emotionally, then she was going to hurt him physically.

After being out of Jack's personal bubble, Misty was starting to feel everything around her again. She started to feel everyone's emotions and their locations around her. The weird thing was that she couldn't feel Jack's emotions or his position any more. The power she felt seemed to be sucking at her inner strength again.

"You played with my feeling for the last time, Jack. This will cost you very dearly, _mi amor_!" she told him mocking his Spanish. While she was saying this, Misty hadn't noticed that her body started to glow again. It was glowing brighter than the first time. The amber light was illuminating the whole living room and the building took the role of a lighthouse by the ocean illuminating the way for boats in a deep fog; the only difference was this lighthouse was lighting a fiery amber light that was shining through the traffic heavy streets of Cerulean City.

Misty's was clenching her fists and she was about to run and kill the man in front of her; when about 16 guys surrounded her in a circle aiming the barrel of their guns at her. They were armed and ready to pull the trigger. Misty was able to search through their feelings now better than before. She could sense that they were more scared of her than she was of them. But why were they so scared of her?

And then noticing her glowing she thought of how Ash had picked her up like he would a feather while he was emitting his azure glowing light. If he could do that, then maybe she could as well.

_There is only one way to know if I have Ash's strength..._

Misty was moving faster than any car she had ever driven in her life. She was moving so fast that everyone seemed to be going in slow motion. Bullets were seen in slow-motion. She could see every movement they made. She beat every single one of them into a pulp.

She felt so mad at these goons for standing in the way of her real target and ex-lover. She hated him to the point that she couldn't control what she was doing. Misty's anger drove her to a point of no return. Once she saw blood from their mouths and noses, she couldn't stop herself. Her fists were bleeding and she was exhausted by the end.

She started to run towards Jack. As she was getting closer her strength and speed were nowhere near what they were a few minutes ago. She felt her Amber glow begin to be sucked in by Jacks Dark Blue glow.

She was three steps away from him, when she fell to her knees before hitting the floor.

Before passing out Misty saw Jack standing next to none other than Ms. Blonde-whore.

* * *

><p>Jack was still standing in his original position after Misty started to attack his minions. He was surprised at what had just happened. Jack never thought Misty could accomplish such a feat. She wasn't trained to use the Essence of the All Mighty.<p>

Jack knew that Mr. Pokémon Master was in the room just before he had detonated the explosives. He knew it was Ash because of the trace of energy he had left behind.

He was the only other person that the All Mighty had given access to the Temple of Essence. He had known for a while that Misty knew this Ash, but as soon as he was going to plant a trap Misty broke off their relationship.

Looking back at it, he knew that Clare should have been more careful in hiding her presence when entering Misty's apartment. She should have used her essence to hide herself, but as always she wanted to flirt and mess around.

_All Mighty what am I going to do with her? Then again... what would I do without my Clare? After everything that's happened between us, I think I might just ask her to marry me mañana!_ Jack thought without knowing if tomorrow would come to ask her.

Jack was never in love with Misty. He had only played his part and played it well making her believe that he loved her back. He had played with her emotions and had used his power of essence to control Misty's emotions for about 8 months. He had only gotten together with Misty to get to Ash. It was only chance that had changed the course of the past 3 weeks.

Ash had met up with Misty 4 weeks ago and planted the Seed of Essence within her. Jack didn't think that it would grow so quickly. He thought he had more time than this to extract the energy from Misty's Seed of Essence.

_I guess all the emotional stress made the seed grow faster, very interesting._ Jack was contemplating on his hypotheses in the matter when he was snapped out of it by Clare.

"Hey lover, why don't we get rid of this little pest?" Claire said walking up to an unconscious Misty.

"What are you jealous?" Jack had to ask the question. He knew this would tick her off.

"Me? Jealous? Get real darling!" Clare said. "This red-head's got nothing on me!"

Claire was the definition of a Hoenn bombshell. Born in Slateport City, Claire had always been the outgoing type. She looked like an angel, but she was actually a demon in disguise. She had long blonde hair that covered her back and was abundant in volume and texture. She had dark emerald eyes that could be mistaken by contacts because of their uniqueness. Her body was that of a goddess. She was shorter than Misty at 5 foot 4 inches but made it up the height with rounder and bigger assets. Her skin was that of any person living most of their life at the beach.

She was wearing the same type of body suit that Jack was wearing except purple. She was second in command in this little operation after Jack himself.

"You are jealous, don't lie to me babe." Jack told her. He was teasing her and trying to find out how far he could get. "I know you are jealous of her looks and her popularity too." He chuckled a little just to add to the teasing.

"How about we just get rid of her and have a little playtime at our hotel room?" Clare proposed. She knew he couldn't turn down the offering.

"First we have to find Mr. Pokémon Master. Then we can go have our fun." Jack said.

Jack picked Misty up off the ground and was lifting her just as easily as Ash had. He was holding her bridal style in his arms.

"Come on out Mr. Pokémon Master!" Jack shouted, "We got your love interest right here waiting for her knight in shining armour"

"Ash... don't leave..." Misty was mumbling in her sleep. "Don't leave me..."

"Huh," Clare said. "I guess she really has missed him that much."

What came next, neither Clare nor Jack nor any of the guards getting up to their feet would have ever seen coming. There was a clicking sound and then there was an explosion of whiteness in the living room that stunned everyone.

* * *

><p>Ash had thrown a Flash grenade in the living room and had taken Misty with him in less than three seconds.<p>

Ash, with Misty in his arms, was about to escape when he remembered to pick up a certain portrait.

"I guess I have underestimated you, Ketchum." Jack said. "Don't think you will get away so easily!"

After wasting about 5 more seconds locating the picture under the debris with his senses, he finally found it. He picked it up just in time for everyone to recover their orientation and sight.

"I think I _will_ get away this easily. _Buenas noches!_" Ash said as he took a leap out the shattered windows and into a freefall down the side of the building.

* * *

><p><strong>Tadaaaa! Another chapter added. Sorry to the followers of this story for taking sooooooo long. There have been lots of things affecting the continuation of this story and I want to apologize. I hope everyone likes it. I will try to make the next chapter soon.<strong>

**I have also changed the name of the story from The Forgotten Power to The Essence Within and have changed the rating to a Mature audience.. if you hadn't noticed already. I might add an extension to the title later on if i decide to make more stories with in the same timeline. :)**

**"5oul on D!splay" by Johnathan Underdown is the song I listened to while writing the first part of this chapter. Check it out. It really puts me in the right set of mind to write Misty's character... I don't know why. :D**

**Till next time!**


	3. Forgotten Memories

**Hello Everyone!**

I am back for a bit. I had this Chapter sitting on my computer for a loooooooong time... I didn't know what to do with it. It was very difficult for me to write it. When I finished writing it, I wasn't happy with it... It was too long and there were things that needed to be reviewed and such... but I cut it up some and here is the next chapter. I will try to update sooner... hopefully... *crosses fingers*...

* * *

><p>Ash was freefalling now. He could see the whole city from this height. As he looked down at the concrete coming towards them he stopped for a mere second to take in the beauty that was sound asleep in his arms.<p>

Misty looked beautiful. She seemed to be crying; there were tears falling down her cheeks and there were marks of many tears shed from the whole night. Ash realized at that very moment that Misty looked like no other woman he had laid eyes upon. As a teenager he never thought that she would become the woman he saw in front of him.

Misty had grown out completely from her teenager body and now had the shape of an adult woman. Most girls would grow out into their womanly bodies earlier than most guys because of the way puberty works on males and females, the exception was Misty. Ash remembered the last time he had seen her. He remembered that she looked slimmer and without the extra curves around her body. One thing that did change was her face. Her face as a teenager did not have the fullness it had now; Misty had boney features as a teenager and did not look much like a girl. If it wasn't for her hair or the fact that she wore short shorts all the time people would dismiss her for a guy.

Either way, Ash had loved her in his teenage years. He had also risked his life multiple times to safe her and keep her from harm. Even before he had known of the love game, he would safe her out of protective impulse.

In that mere glimpse he could feel old emotions clawing at his stomach. He could feel his heart skip a beat with just the feeling and sight in front of him. It was unusual for him to feel this way. And it had been many years since he had felt like that. He recalled the feeling from many years ago with the same girl in his arms.

_Now is not the time Ash! _He was yelling at himself in his mind.

Ash snapped himself off his daze and began to get to work on surviving the fall. Although falling off a building was routine for him, he knew that if his concentration was off by a small margin it could cost him his life and even worse Misty's.

He pulled in closer to the building by shifting his and Misty's body weight. He was skidding almost along the side of the building. He was lucky that the top floors did not have balconies but huge windows or else he would have hit a balcony and broken many bones. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

Ash was able to grab one of the ropes that were hanging on the side of the building. It was one of the ropes the team of infiltrators had used when scaling the building.

Ash held on with all the strength in his right arm while holding Misty in his left. His hand started to burn from the friction of his skin and rope. He wished he had his gloves on, but nowadays he only wore them when he was out on a mission.

He held on as tight as he could but they were still descending at a fast pace. He tried to hold on even tighter. Exerting all of his muscle strength was still not quite enough to bring them to a halt but he managed to slow them down significantly.

The rope had burned through his skin. The frictional energy between his hand and the rope had made the rope feel like a knife cutting through his bare skin. The rope was full of blood. His hand was a gruesome sight. And it was still not enough to stop them completely. He had to use his Essence.

Using his Essence would drain part of his inner strength. He didn't want that to happen because he did not know if he had to fight Jack in the future minutes. He needed every bit of strength to fight him and his minions.

Ash had learned to become cautious and patient when facing his foes. He had learned through the years to always reserve as much energy as possible when dealing with enemies. He also learned to control how much energy to use in different situations. He had taught this to his Pokémon as well and he applied everything on his missions and on Pokémon battles alike.

When he used his Essence, immediately he felt every fibre in his right arm grow. His strength on his right arm increased tenfold and his hand gripped even tighter. The power coursing through his limb was a relive on his hand. It had increased the amount of adrenaline being pumped into his right arm and had taken away the pain in his palm.

"There we go..." he said pleased.

There wasn't much of his right palm and fingers anymore it was all blood and bits and chunks of meat. In some places you could see the pearly white of his bones. He knew that it would take a while to be able to recover from this one, but he didn't care now that he couldn't feel his palm.

They had fallen about 20 storeys so far and then they finally stopped. It was good timing on Ash's part that they did because of what laid below them. He had about two feet of rope left and ten more storeys to go.

He was able to put his feet on the side of the building and begin to swing to the left side to reach the balcony that was nearest. He went right to left and again to get some momentum. Then he finally jumped and landed on his feet. He was still holding tightly onto Misty and she was still sleeping soundly in his arm.

Remembering how she didn't like being carried and also remembering her temper he told himself with a chuckle, "She better not wake up or else I would have survived this fall to die by her hand..."

Ash was about to reach for the glass door handle when he noticed something very odd. All of the 10th floor lights were off.

_There has to be someone up at this time. It isn't that late. _He was thinking.

Ash immediately sent a pulse with his Essence to search for any one inside the apartment. He searched the apartment but could not feel any human or Pokémon. He searched the whole 10th floor and came up with the same conclusion.

_Maybe I am not looking for the right thing... _Ash thought.

Then he send another pulse and found what he feared was the case. He acted immediately and without hesitation. Ash jumped once again off the side of the building.

_**BOOM!**_ Right after jumping there was a huge explosion on the side of the building. The explosives were placed at the right places so that the whole building wouldn't come down on itself. They would only kill any living being inside the tenth floor living quarters.

Ash was freefalling again. He knew that he wouldn't survive this fall. Even if he used all of the Essence left within him he still couldn't break this fall. This fall would break him and kill him and that was a fact that was embedded in his brain since he jumped. He knew how far his powers reached and this was out of his reach.

While freefalling Ash turned around and pulled Misty on top of him. He did this so that he could take most of the fall on himself and let Misty survive.

"Ash don't go..." Misty said in her sleep, "Don't leave me."

Ash could only smile at this. A tear fell from his left eye as he prepared to use the last of his Essence to break most of the fall.

"I am so sorry Mist..." Ash said, "I am sorry for all the pain I have caused you."

Holding her tight to his chest Ash could only wish he had more time. More time to tell her everything.

* * *

><p>Misty couldn't see anything. Any kind of light was gone from her sight. She looked left and right, up and down but could not see anything more than the blackness surrounding her. She knew she had her eyes open because she felt them open just as she felt her arms and legs. She couldn't hear anything either but that wasn't a surprise since she was almost deaf before passing out.<p>

_Great... now I am blind and deaf... could this day go any better? _She thought.

She sat down on what felt like ground. She felt very exhausted. Her muscles were sore and her head was still pounding madly.

"God... I need an aspirin..." Misty said out loud,

When she said this, she startled herself when she heard her voice. There was an echo of her voice in this darkness. And she could feel her sound waves travel through the emptiness and back at her.

"What is going on?" she said.

When she said this, light appeared to the right of her sight along with an image. She turned around to look and it was the picture she treasured of her and Ash except it was inside a glass rectangular prism, almost like a TV screen. Misty tried to grab the picture and when she did her hand was absorbed by the screen. She couldn't pull out; all she could do was stare horrified at her now gone hand.

Misty was now being pulled into the crystal like prism. And like a mosquito flying towards an electric lamp. Misty was pulled completely into the image an instant later. She was transported to a distant memory.

Misty was sitting at a big stadium. She was 17 and was wearing white short shorts with a red vest that had yellow pockets. Underneath the vest she was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a giant Pikachu's face on the front. It was a rare treasure she only wore under special occasions. This shirt was a present from Ash for her 16th birthday and she kept it safe and clean at all times.

She remembered that it was the third time wearing the Pikachu shirt. She saw that Ash was wearing a shirt she had bought him of a Psyduck. It was the same as hers except with the face of a giant Psyduck on the front instead of a Pikachu. She gave it to him as a joke for his 16th birthday not thinking that he would get so attached to it.

When older Misty within the memory saw this, she remembered more details than she normally would have. She had forgotten that Ash was wearing it that day along with a pair of jeans, a black vest, and his Official Pokémon League Expo hat. Remembering and looking at everything surrounding her was a shock. She was transposed back in the body of a younger Misty and was living the moment of her memory again.

Misty was sitting next to Professor Oak one of the leading Pokémon scientists of his time and also next to Ash's mom, Delia Ketchum. Beside them were Brock and Gary as well as all of Ash's friends from his travels.

There were so many people cheering Ash on. He was down to his last two Pokémon, Charizard and his best pikapal, Pikachu. He was fighting the Champion of the Kanto Region and was up against two of his Pokémon. This would be a battle Ash would always remember and one that Misty still remembers.

"And there you have it ladies and gentleman! Ash has taken down Lance's Aerodactyl. Can you believe it? He has taken down an _ancient_ _legendary_ Aerodactyl with a Charizard! That's one powerful Charizard!" the announcer said through the speaker system.

Misty could see Charizard was tired from the fight, but he was a proud Pokémon and would stand tall at any situation. Ash knew this too and was proud to own such a warrior of a Pokémon.

"Come on out Gyarados!" the defending champion called out, "Show them your power!"

As Gyarados came out of his pokeball he did a front flip and pushed off the ground with his hydro pump attack to do a backflip onto his fighting position. Misty had tried teaching this little maneouver to her Gyarados after seeing it but never really came close.

"Lance may have taken a huge loss with Aerodactyl down but he still has many tricks up his sleeve! Pay attention boys and girls, this is going to be a battle to remember!" the announcer said.

"I guess he wants to play it like that, huh? I got no other choice." Ash said, "Alright Charizard come on back and take a rest. Pikachu, show that oversized scaly serpent what you got!"

"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu was thrilled it seemed. He was itching for a fight and now he got what he was looking for. Although in any normal battle Gyarados would have intimidated his opponent and had a bit of an advantage, that wasn't the case with Pikachu. The bond between trainer and Pokémon was so strong that Pikachu felt no fear in front of any Pokémon. He trusted Ash with his life and would do anything for him without a trace of fear.

Misty was glad to see Pikachu again. The last time she had seen him was not under good circumstances. She had grown to love the Pokémon and treated him as she would any great friend; even though he was still a Pokémon.

"Begin!" the referee shouted.

"Alright Gyarados lets go all in, hit him with your Hydro Pump!" Lance commanded.

"Pikachu use Charge while you dodge with Agility!" Ash told Pikachu, "You know what to do after that!"

Pikachu had learned to use Charge after seeing another Pikachu use it in a battle against him, Ash had told Misty afterwards. Pikachu and Ash were getting hurt badly in that match because the other Pikachu had more power. And in the middle of the match Pikachu was able to pull of the same move and was able to overcome the other Pikachu's power.

Gyarados was shooting massive amounts of water towards Pikachu. Left and right Pikachu dodged easily. The faster Pikachu moved the more his body charged up with electricity. His whole body started to become a conductor of electricity. Every strand of hair in his back was sticking up passing electrical charges from one hair to the other and so on. Misty could hear the snappy sound of high voltage charging up and being passed from one part of the Pokémon's body to the other.

"Just a bit longer... Come on buddy keep dodging!"Ash said.

"Keep at it Gyarados!" Lance told his Pokémon, "Full blast!"

Gyarados's Hydro Pumps began to expand into bigger and broader torrents of water. Pikachu was beginning to have trouble evading them. He was barely caught by one and it was enough to send him down onto the ground on his side.

"Pikachu, do it now!" Ash commanded.

"Piiiikkkaaaaa!" Pikachu cried out.

Pikachu was hit with a full blast of the Hydro Pump. Everyone thought Pikachu was done for, no one expected what was about to take place. Pikachu's next move combination would go down in history as one of the most legendary moves ever done in any championship match.

Pikachu had use a compact version of Discharge. The attack was so strong that it split every water molecule that touched Pikachu's fur.

"Quickly Pikachu use Thunder Pulse!" Ash told Pikachu.

Pikachu was still using his version of Discharge to protect himself from the Hydro Pump. While holding the Discharge his tail began to glow white and just as if he was going to use Electro Ball, energy started to concentrate at the tip of the tail forming into an electric ball.

"Don't let up Gyarados!" Lance said, "I don't know what he is planning, but stay sharp and keep blasting that Pikachu!"Lance had no idea what this attack was so he had to be extra careful.

Pikachu jumped in the air and did a front flip to whip his tail out. Along with the tail whip the energetic ball went flying straight towards Gyarados. Gyarados was already prepared and shot his Hydro pump right at the ball of energy. Once the ball made contact with the water it was over for Gyarados.

The electrical pulses traveled through the Hydro Pump at contact with the water. They traveled very quickly up the stream of water and to the source. Usually it would take longer for the pulse part of the attack to get to the opponent but since water conducts electricity it gave it a boost.

Gyarados was paralyzed. His body couldn't move one bit but his hydro pump didn't let up. This showed how strong this Pokémon really was.

The ball of energy was still traveling towards him breaking through the current of water. It was disintegrating the water molecules just as Pikachu's defensive electric coat had before and it was breaking right through the center of the Hydro Pump. Gyarados had no way out of this one. He couldn't move and his attack was being disarmed.

"Gyarados! Try using your Ice Beam against the ball!" Lance commanded.

"Graaaawwwh!" Gyarados did his battle cry.

Gyarados stopped his Hydro Pump and began his other attack. Gyarados gathered energy on the tip of his mouth and fired. He couldn't move his body but he could move his head and that enabled him to have the accuracy to attack the ball of energy.

Just before the attack hit, Ash called out a second attack.

"Volt tackle!" Ash told Pikachu.

"Pikaaaaa!" Pikachu was already on all fours and ready. He started to glow an intense yellow that surrounded his whole body while running towards Gyarados at full speed.

The attack almost looked like a contest move. Pikachu had many yellow and white lights coming out of his body as he sprinted. The display of electric lights that surrounded Pikachu was due to the amount of concentrated energy within his whole body from Charge. This was a Volt Tackle like non-other Lance had ever seen in his career as a Pokémon trainer. It was flawlessly executed and powerful enough for a one hit KO on any Gyarados, but his Gyarados would not fall so easily.

Older Misty started remembering clearer of what had actually happen and how she had felt at the time. She was at the edge of her seat. The excitement was making her heart beat faster and faster as she saw the attacks collide with one another. She was in a trance as the lights moved down the center of the field at an incredible speed. She saw everyone in the stadium with the same expression on their faces of excitement and anticipation. She couldn't explain how a memory could bring back so many feelings. She could only watch and anticipate what was inevitably going to happen.

The Ice Beam slowed down the attack some, but it was still coming. The ice attack had hit the electric ball of energy and had frozen around it. The ball of energy did not stop though. It did the same thing as the Hydro Pump and separated the water molecules. The process just took fractions of a second longer because of the water molecules being compacted so closely by the cold.

"Pika Pika Pika Pika Pika Pika Pika... Chu!" He closed the gap between them and hit Gyarados square in the centre. This stopped his Ice Beam attack and it released the resistance against the electric ball.

"No! Gyarados!" Lance knew that it was over. He knew that Gyarados couldn't possibly block both this new attack and a Volt Tackle of that magnitude.

Gyarados was hit with the electric ball of energy right on the head right after the Volt tackle. He was out and down for the count.

"And through a bizarre combination of moves no one in this stadium has ever seen, Ash Ketchum takes the lead!" the announcer said. "Who will the defending champion use next?"

The crowd went wild. Everyone in the stadium was at the edge of their seats.

"Unbelievable... Ash had every side of that round covered. His defence was impenetrable, and his offensive was a power house. He used Charge to double and I think even triple the power of Pikachu." Professor Oak said to no one in particular, "His bond with that Pokémon is something great to admire."

Older Misty was transfixed. She had just relived everything just as if she was there again. She would never forget the epic match between Ash's Pikachu and the defending Champion's Gyarados for the rest of her life. She knew that, but to be able to relive it was something completely different than remembering it. Being there to feel what she had felt and to closely inspect what she had never had been able to was incredible.

She knew what was about to happen also. Ash would win with Pikachu up against Lance's majestic flying bird-like legendary Pokémon Articuno. It was lucky that Ash had used Charge at the beginning of the match or else Ash would have lost for sure. It was a close battle that Pikachu won because of the advantage over flying Pokémon.

When Misty started remembering what was going to happen next everything traveled in fast motion. It was as if she had hit the fast forward button on a movie at home.

She was so new to everything that was happening. Her head started to hurt badly again and Misty could feel her head was about to explode again. She wasn't sure why she was getting these headaches but she knew it had to do with remembering certain things or certain people. This time it had to do with Ash and his victory.

And then it stopped hurting. She looked around and remembered exactly where she was. Misty was inside the locker room just after the match against Lance. It was a big locker room designed for more than 20 people at a time. There was a place to shower in the far back next to the toilets and urinals. The walls were white with the lockers a dark blue. Ash was sitting down on a bench near his locker. He had his hat down over his eyes looked very serious by the expression in the lower part of his face.

"Ash what's wrong? You just beat the champion of Kanto and Johto. You should be happy and screaming of joy!" Misty told him, "Tell me what's wrong, Ash."

After a few seconds Ash finally answered. "There is something wrong, and it's something I have to do but please close the door first. Tell everyone outside that I'll be out in a minute. And I'll tell you what's the matter, maybe you can help me." Ash said with almost a smile at the end.

Misty did as she was told. She went to the door and brought the news to all of Ash's friends. She told them to wait outside for a while and that she would have a talk with him. And so she went back in and sat down next to him.

"What's the matter Ash?" she said softly, "Why aren't you happy?"

"Misty, I am happy. It's just that there is a conflict inside me." Ash started explaining, "This is so hard for me to tell someone else..."

"Well, why don't you just try?" Misty told him, "Maybe you can if you just try or else I can force it out of you with a smack to the head."

"Okay... Jeez Misty, I guess I should have guessed you would use force." Ash took a deep breath, "See Misty, I told myself before going to fight Lance that I would tell someone very special to me how I feel about them."

Older Misty was stunned just like when this actually happened. She was living in the moment of the memory. She was feeling the same she had felt then. And she remembered feeling jealous. She gulped the feeling down her throat as she remembered. She was able to gulp those feelings down every time Ash introduced another girl he was traveling with to Misty. She had become an expert at not showing her true emotions to other people. And she began to relive the same charade she was putting up at the moment of the memory.

"What? Ash is in love?" Misty was trying to keep a smile but it was hard when she was being split in two inside, "So who is this lucky girl?"

"I am not telling you just yet! Be a bit patient." Ash said heat was beginning to rise up into his cheeks, "I want to give her something to show her how I feel. I bought this and I need someone to tell me if it looks okay."

Ash handed Misty a blue box. Misty opened the small box to reveal the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen in her life. It was a necklace made of white gold enchased with small finely cut sapphires. The necklace itself was not what caught Misty's attention, but the pendant attached to the necklace.

The pendant was a cerulean conch no more than two inches in length. It was enchased with sapphires and diamonds. It seemed to glow under the fluorescent white light of the locker room.

"Can you try it on for me Mist?" Ash asked calmly, "I want to know how it will look on her."

"Yeah, sure thing Ash..." Misty's heart had been shattered by now. Ash was her crush for the longest time. She couldn't remember how long she had liked him and now to see that he was about to confess his love for someone else, It was a devastating blow. She put on a smile and concealed it as she always did when she was alone with Ash.

Ash took the necklace from the box. He took both ends one in each hand and went to the back of her neck to bond both ends together. Ash still had his sight to the floor and his hat over his eyes.

"Well, don't just look at your feet all day. How do you think it would look on her?" Misty asked trying hard to suppress the tears trying to escape her eyes.

As she said this she rose to her feet to look at a near-by mirror. The pendant was beautiful. It was the same colour of her eyes and it made her eyes shine. The pendant enforced the colour of Misty's eyes and made them look more beautiful than ever before. When Ash saw this only one word came out of his mouth.

"Beautiful..." He said in more than a whisper. When he said it he wasn't looking at the pendant at all. Nor was he looking at the necklace either. Ash was looking directly at Misty's eyes.

Misty noticed from the reflection of the mirror and very quickly turned around to look at Ash in the eyes. When she did this Ash found his feet more interesting. He had a bit of pink around his cheeks. Misty could only stare at him. She had heard what he said. She didn't know why he was acting so strange.

_Well I guess it isn't everyday you tell someone you like them..._ Misty thought.

Misty put on another smile to try and cover her emotions crawling up her throat.

"Yeah I think she will look beautiful with this necklace too..." She said she tried gulping the emotions down again, "So are you going to tell me who this lucky girl is?"

"Yeah I already told you I would tell you everything." Ash said still not making eye contact, "But first you have to look at what's inside the pendant."

"Alright... now... how do I open it?" Misty asked, "Is this girl one from your travels? Ohh I bet she is!"

"You have to press down on the front and the back of the pendant with one of your fingers and your thumb." Ash explained, "And yes she is..."

"Olala! How exciting! A good friend of yours then, huh?" Misty said as she followed Ash's instructions, "Is it May? Maybe it's Dawn! Or maybe it's another girl I don't know about?"

The pendant popped open and Misty read the small words inside.

~ From Ash to Mist, I have loved you since you fished me out of the water and will forever love you. ~

These words were placed inside a breath taking sapphire stone secured tightly inside the conch. The words glowed a greenish colour and with the sapphire acting as a filter of light, they glowed a cerulean colour. It was more beautiful than anything Misty had ever seen in her entire life.

Misty couldn't believe it. She didn't see this coming and was in a state of disbelieve the whole time. She turned to look at Ash. He was looking right at her with eyes full of hopefulness. He was hoping that she would say something regarding her feelings. Misty could see it in his eyes.

The older Misty inside the memory was feeling the same way she did back then. She was reliving everything over again. She was happy. She was happier than she could remember ever being; even in the future from this memory, there was no other time happier than this one in her memories.

Few seconds had passed by. Misty's heart was beating faster than she thought possible; she felt as if it was going to burst out of her chest.

"You don't have to say anything Mist." Ash stopped Misty's heart pulse and restarted it with a thunder shock with what he said next, " I love you Misty, I've known how you felt for a while, too."

_I never really understood how Ash knew this... _Older Misty was thinking. _He never did tell me. _

Then something hit her. Something that she thought was the only reasonable explanation. Misty had never told anyone how she felt and she always tried her best at hiding her feelings for him. She knew for sure that no one knew for certain about her crush and what people thought were only speculations. No one ever knew for sure whether or not Misty liked Ash and she liked to keep it that way. Misty thought Ash was still clueless about girls before this and she was partially correct. The only explanation was that Ash had felt her feelings through the Essence as she had felt the feelings of the people around her at the apartment.

Misty had finally figured out one of the biggest mysteries that haunted her. And this only brought up more questions in her mind.

It explained why Ash had become a better trainer just before his championship fight against Lance. It explained the change in his communicating with his Pokémon. Sometimes it was as if Ash just talked to them with his expressions.

Ash had turned around and was headed for the door. He was walking slowly and Misty knew why. He was waiting for a reply of sorts.

"Wait! Ash, hold on!" Misty said, "Ash... I don't know how you knew... It has been a secret I have been trying to keep for what seems like forever. I..."

Misty had placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. They were close now. Misty had taken a couple of steps closer to him in the process of telling him to hold on. Misty knew that she was invading Ash's personal bubble, but she didn't care. She needed to tell Ash how she felt and his close presence was making her heart beat faster than before.

When she tried to speak again, she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"You... What, Misty?" Ash asked. He was smiling now, he somehow knew the conflict within her and was smiling at the fact that Misty was at a loss of words now.

Ash leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.

"You love me?" Ash asked with a mischievous smile. He had pink all over his cheeks and so did the redhead.

"I... I..." was all Misty could get out of her mouth. Her cheeks matched the colour of her vest.

"I told you Mist, I already know." Ash said, "You can tell me later when you find your tongue"

Ash laughed a little. Misty was able to close her mouth. Ash turned around and was headed towards the door again.

Older Misty remembered this perfectly; it was at this moment when she took the bravest action in her entire life. She had always been afraid to tell Ash how she felt for him. She wasn't just afraid. She was terrified of just thinking about it. It was the deepest secret in her life up to this point.

"Ash... don't leave..." Misty said hesitant to say the next part, "Don't leave me... without telling you how I feel..."

"Alright, I guess that's fair..." Ash said while turning around, "I am sorry for teasing you... So... how to you feel?"

"Umm..." Misty still couldn't find the right words to say to him, "Give me a second will ya?"

She was getting agitated and angry at herself because Ash was pushing her. Not only that, but it was also the fact that he already knew that had affected her way of expressing herself. She never thought she would get the chance to tell him how she felt.

"Well... how long have you known?" Misty asked.

"Hmmm... I would say since I visited you for your sixteenth birthday. When I gave you that shirt you are wearing." Ash gave her his trademark smile, "And since then I have been planning this."

"Oh, I see... So you have been planning for a long time..." the thought of it made Misty blush even more, "How long have you started to have feelings for me?"

"I can say that it has been since you fished me out of the water." There was sincerity in Ash's eyes and a bit of joking in his expression, "I have always missed you in my travels. When I was in different regions and I couldn't understand why. You were the person that was constantly in my mind... and it was until I started searching my feelings that I figured it out."

"I guess I can say the same..." Misty had so many butterflies in her stomach that she thought they were going to fly right out of her stomach into her throat. And they were. She had the same feeling down her throat as before, but it wasn't out of being heart broken or sad. She was extremely happy that her dream had come true. It was making her almost cry of happiness.

"Well, except for the part about finding out my feelings. I have always known... That's why I followed you in the beginning." She said still feeling that sensation of butterflies in her stomach.

Misty tried gulping the feeling down again, but it was too much for her to handle. She began to cry. It had been the first time she had cried in front of Ash and not the last.

"I have been waiting for you to say that for so long, you idiot!" Misty was yelling at Ash, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Misty had her fists clenched. She started hitting Ash in the chest with her fists.

"Why? Why Ash?" She was whispering now, "Why?..."

"Misty, I don't know..." He said plainly. Ash had wrapped his arms around her and was holding her tightly so Misty would stop hitting him.

Misty and Ash stayed like this for a while. Misty didn't want it to end. She was happy and mad, happy for finally being with Ash and mad at herself for crying in front of him. She had waited for him for so long. She wasn't expecting him to tell her how he felt. She never expected to tell him how she felt, either. Misty had given up on ever having a relationship with him. Ash had traveled with so many other prettier girls making Misty think that he would fall for one of them eventually. She thought it would just be a secret she would keep till she died.

"I..." Misty could say the words in her head but couldn't conjure them out, "I...Love... you, Ash Ketchum."

She had finally said something she would only say in her own room in a whisper when thinking about him. Every night she would think of him before falling asleep. Sometimes her thoughts about him didn't let her sleep at night. She used to read and re-read the letters he sent her about his travels. And would replay in her head all the special times they shared only wanting to go back and experience them again. She didn't date anyone either. She had become popular after taking over Cerulean City Gym and had received a lot of offers to dates after gym battles but Misty always held on to what she felt for Ash waiting for something to happen; waiting for this moment right now. She was depressed and sad many nights because of the loneliness and the want to be with him on an adventure.

She didn't feel lonely in the sense of not having people around. Misty had her family around all the time. She also had some childhood friends from Cerulean city that visited her. She felt lonely because she felt that something inside was empty and it needed to be filled.

Ash had just filled that emptiness. Misty felt complete.

Misty reached her hands out of his chest and pulled Ash closer by grabbing the back of his head. She closed her eyes, leaned in and kissed him. It was a short and passionate kiss filled with the beginnings of true love.

"I have also loved you since I fished you out of the water." She told him while Ash was whipping away her tears with his thumbs, "I have missed you every day since I had to take over the gym. It sounds weird to say this but looking back I only realized the extent of my emotions for you after I started missing you. Then I realized that the moment we met was the moment I fell for you."

"Same here Mist." Ash said, "I also wanted to tell you that this victory was for you."

"It was?" Misty asked.

"Yep, why did you think I was wearing this stupid shirt for the match?" Ash teased her.

Misty smacked him in the shoulder. She was smiling now. She had finally opened up to someone and had let out her emotions and feelings with three simple words. Misty felt renewed. She felt like a new person and it was all thanks to the person standing in front of her this very instant.

"I am kidding, sheesh!" Ash said still smiling, "I love this shirt because it reminds me of you."

"Can it! You insulted the shirt I gave you!" she had an angry face on but was only trying to tease him for what he said, "Don't be sad when you don't get anything for your next birthday."

"I won't be, 'cause being with you would be the greatest gift of all" Ash answered.

"And what makes you think I'll still be with an inconsiderate brat like you by then?" Misty said blushing a little and smiling.

"I'll find a way to persuade you to stay." Ash said with his classic grin on his face and playful eyes.

Remembering that they had to leave Ash said, "Oh, I forgot they are waiting for us! Let's go Misty!" A Misty had completely forgotten about everyone else too. She had lost all sense of time.

Ash grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door. They held hands most of that day getting many looks from both their friends and Ash's fans. Most of their friends didn't know what had happened but some did. And everyone was happy that Ash had finally found a girlfriend. His mom was a bit too excited and was already planning their marriage right after they told everyone.

_Too bad it didn't last that long._ Older Misty was thinking, _I never thought that it would end like it did._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a headache. She found herself seconds later holding her head tightly and wishing the pain would go away yet again.

"Ahhhh! Stop!" Misty cried, "It hurts so much! I feel like my head is going to explode! Ahhh! Make it stop please!"

Misty was on her knees now. She had never felt pain like this before, it was stronger than the last time. The pain was piercing through the back of her skull as if there was a giant needle being punctured into her brain.

"Please stop!" she yelled, "Please! Someone! Anyone! Help me!"

She was yelling loudly now. Her agony was unbearable. She felt so weak against the pain. Misty was on her side now. She couldn't think of anything else other than the pain. And then a thought crawled up into her head.

"Ash help me! Please Ash!" Misty was yelling.

And then it all stopped. She opened her eyes and wiped some of the tears that had escaped with the back of her right hand. And when she rose up to look around, she saw a memory before her that had haunted her until she had met Jack.

Misty always played this memory through her head over and over again. She would replay it and remember it just to see if she was missing something vital. There was always a feeling that she couldn't shake about the memory. This moment was something she would always regret.

"Misty, I can't do this anymore. I can't keep going like this. I feel torn in two." Ash said, "I know that I love you Misty. I have known that fact for more than I can remember. And I can see in your eyes that you love me too but..."

"But... what?" Misty said, "You can't stay in one place for too long? Is that it Ash? Just tell me now and I won't say anything else. Maybe you have another girl somewhere. Tell me Ash! Tell me now!"

The older Misty within couldn't take the change in emotions. She had been to the point of extreme happiness and now she was going into the darkest part of her memories. The change in emotions was a catalyst to her headache.

_No! Please anything but this memory!_ She yelled inside her head. _Please Ash! help me! _

She had no one else to turn to but Ash. She couldn't think of anyone else but Ash.

And as if he had heard her everything went black again and she couldn't feel a thing.

* * *

><p>There it is! Hope everyone enjoyed it. I will try to sit down and write some more. Thank You for reading!<p> 


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